Tearful Surprises
by nixerist
Summary: #4 of the Life as We Know It series. Annabeth has something to tell Percy!


You know, there are some times that living in New York City can be irritating. It can be cramped, there are people everywhere. But I have gotten used to those things. Tonight though, I was having issues getting home. Usually I ride the subway home from work. I almost always call Annabeth when I leave work, check if there is anything she needs, ask whats for dinner, that kind of stuff. Tonight for some reason, Annabeth didn't answer. I know I probably shouldn't worry, but something felt weird. I tried to convince myself that she was just working late, but part of me didn't believe that. So I headed to the subway, a little more rushed than usual. Of course everything went wrong. My ticket wouldn't work and I was out of cash to buy another one. Fortunately, they finally let me in, seeing I had a monthly pass. So when I reached my train I was pretty much expecting something to go wrong. Well, the train was stuck somewhere and would be there in 30 minutes. Great. When it finally arrived, it was packed so I could barely breath. After another 20 minutes, I was walking home.

I reached our second story apartment, and walked in to our kitchen to find Annabeth was not there. I called her name, but there was no response. I checked in the living room too but still couldn't find her. I walked to our master suite with a bathroom attached. The lights were on it the bedroom and the door to the bathroom was closed. I went and knocked lightly on the bathroom door, but there was still no response. After another moment, I couldn't take it and I opened the bathroom door.

I opened the door to find my wife laying on the floor in fetal position with her hair all over her face. Immediately worried, I crouched next to her.

"Annabeth what's wrong?" I asked, only to receive an odd train of mumbled words. I pulled her up to a sitting position, only to reveal that her face was tear-streaked and she had slightly puffy eyes.

"Wise Girl what happened? Why are you crying? Are you okay?" I questioned quickly, ready to call an ambulance or her family or Chiron when she responded. Apparently, my questions caused her to release more tears. Then I realized that she was holding an object that was half behind her back.

"Annie, tell me what's going on before I call for help. You're scaring me."

"Percy." She started, but more tears came flying from her eyes. I wiped her eyes with my thumbs, moved her hair out of the way, and looked deep into her eyes, trying to tell her it would all be alright.

"Percy, I woke up this morning feeling really nauseous and sick, so I called Piper. And she came over to check on me." That was as far as she could get before giving a pained look.

"Annabeth what's wrong? Do you want me to call a doctor?"

"No Percy. Piper came over and was chatting with me, when she pointed out I've been acting a little differently." She said slowly, stopping once in a while to sniffle.

"Well she had an idea Percy. And it was a scary one. So she went to the drug store and.. and..." More tears spilled as she reached behind her back and pulled out a white stick.

"I'm pregnant, Percy." And thats when she couldn't hold it in any longer. She started sobbing. The sobs were loud and full of worry and sadness, similar to when I saved her from the Sirens and we were in the bubble. I looked down at the stick in her hand and saw the two pink lines. And that's when it hit me. She was pregnant. We were having a baby.

Annabeth slowly curled back to the ground and lay there while I rubbed her back. I was deep in thought, a rare occurrence, about the thought of a baby. I personally had always wanted a family with a couple kids. But being a demigod, you just kind of knew that it was more likely for you to die young. If you lived to adulthood in the first place it was a big deal. And here we were, beating all the odds and having a family. I was overjoyed. But Annabeth was crying. Did she not want to have a family with me? Did she not like me? What if it wasn't even mine? I mean, it could be mine. We have been married for six months. After a couple minutes of rambling questions running through my mind Annabeth sat up.

"I'm really sorry, Percy." She said, her voice full of sorrow.

"Honey, why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know. We haven't talked about kids at all and then this just happens. I guess I'm just worried that you don't want it."

"Annabeth, why would you ever think that? I love you and if I ever wanted to have kids with anyone, it would be you. Of course I want it. Do you not?" That hadn't occurred to me that she might not want kids.

"I-I never thought that I would live long enough to have kids. But.."

"But what, dear?"

"But what if I'm a bad mom?" If her sobbing hadn't been upsetting, that broke me. I had done this to her and here she was, dealing with all this pain and worry because of that.

"You will be the best mom ever, Annabeth. And it won't be because you will read parenting books and stuff. It will be because it is ours. We will love it so much that there's no way we couldn't love it. And we will go to the ends of the world for this child. We will make it work. I promise. As long as we're together, it will be fine."

She looked up at me, a small smile on her face.

"I can't wait to meet our baby. Our baby. It's ours." She said.

"Ours. Our own family."


End file.
